Victories and PR's Plentiful in New Mexico

Five event wins highlighted our weekend at the New Mexico Collegiate Invite.  On Friday it was a trio of 1-2 finished for the Utes.  Cynthia Sanchez and Aoife Hickey getting things started with a 1-2 finish in the weight throw.  Both had lifetime best throws including Sanchez's first toss over the 60 foot barrier.  Another 1-2 finish came in the high jump where fifth year senior Langley Iverson and true freshman Kailey Hansen both cleared 5-4.  Finally, it was Rosalie Waller and Ali Eisenbeiss turning in the top two 600 meter performances separated by only a half second.  Kate Stringfellow was a heat winner as she had a 13 second lifetime best in the 3K.

The throwers kicked things off on Saturday as well with a 1-2-4 finish in the shot put.  Candus Ford had personal best throw of 48-0.  Destanae Howerton Davis (46-10.75) and Cynthia Sanchez (43-9, PR) completed the Utes order.  Senior Amanda Mergaert opened her season with a win, a lifetime best, and #2 all time Utah performance in the 800 (2:07.46).  Pole vaulter Klaudia Rokossa cleared 12-8 to finish in a tie for second place.   Eisenbeiss and Griffin returned in the 400m dash on Saturday to finish 4-5 with lifetime best times (56.57 and 56.88).  Alyssa Johnson was seventh in 57.06.  Sophomore distance runner Susannah Hurst also had a solid day finishing seventh in the mile (5:04) and the 3K (10:05).  Senior Angie Kaplar was also seventh in the 60m hurdles (8.93).

I was pleased with many of our performances.  We won some events and definitely saw a lot of improvement.  Our kids were focused and ready to go for the most part.  After a week of practice that was limited by not having our normal training facility available due to an event conflict I was really impressed by our effort.  This was our first look at a few of our distance runners and for the most part they ran well.  The throwers look in mid season form and the sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers all looked more relaxed and comfortable this week.  We'll be challenging them to reach new heights and compete at an even higher level in the coming weeks.

A big week of practice looms as we return to SLC.  We'll be in Boise next Saturday.